Kevin Youkilis Rumors: Saturday

Yesterday we learned that the White Sox may be best positioned to swing a trade for Kevin Youkilis, who is losing playing time to rookie Will Middlebrooks. The Braves have scouted him in recent weeks though the Pirates are said to have little interest. Here are today's Youkilis rumors, with the latest up top…

The Pirates‬ are still interested in Youkilis, but the team is not confident in its chances of landing him, sources told Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (via Twitter).

Sources indicate that the Indians‬ are a longshot for Youkilis while the Dodgers‬ have had minimal contact with ‪ the Red Sox‬ today, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Signs point to ‪ the White Sox‬, ‪Pirates‬, or another club as the veteran's destination.

The Indians have been the most serious bidder for Youkilis but the White Sox jumped into the mix yesterday, tweets Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Meanwhile, the Dodgers have maintained consistent interest.

A new source tells Rob Biertempfel of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (via Twitter) that the Pirates are likely "out" on the veteran at this point.

The Dodgers are on the "fringe" of talks for Youkilis, reports Dylan Hernandez of The Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). The Pirates continue to be in the mix according to Rosenthal and Morosi (on Twitter).

Talks are described as "intense" according to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com. He says the Red Sox will pay a significant portion of the $7.5MM or so left on Youkilis' contract in any trade scenario.

The Rangers checked in on Youkilis at one point according to MLB.com's T.R. Sullivan, but they are "not involved anymore." Texas was concerned that he would be unhappy in a part-time role.

The Pirates will not surrender a top prospect for Youkilis but they might offer a second tier guy if Boston eats most of his salary, reports Rob Biertempfel of The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (on Twitter).

Red Sox team officials discussed potential roster moves in the wake of an impending Youkilis trade last night, reports Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. That could be an indication that a deal is close.

The Red Sox are speaking with multiple clubs and continue to move closer to a deal, reports Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. The ChiSox have engaged in "heavy dialogue" with Boston but the Dodgers remain in the mix as well. The Sox prefer to trade Youkilis to an NL club.

Very doubtful. A contender can’t take a chance on Youkilis being good enough or healthy enough to be an every day player. How many teams can afford to use him as a glorified utility player who may or may not start to swing the bat again? The Dodgers may actually be the best fit, since they can platoon him at first and start him some at third. They can also afford to buy out a significant portion of his contract to avoid dipping into the upcoming talent pool significantly.

I have to disagree; I think he fits best with a contender who needs an everyday 1B. If a team is already contending with a 1B who could/should be replaced by Youkilis then playing Youkilis there every day isn’t going to make them worse, and with the chance to play 1B every day (and not have to sit on the bench a lot, or try to play 3B) he could very likely turn his offense around and really help a team.

If he continues to bat below his weight, then he could hurt a contending team. More playing time could revive his plate work, or considering his health history, land him on the DL. Any team that trades for him are going to be taking that gamble. They’d better have a backup plan.

The point is though that if a team is currently contending with a 1B who is bad enough for them to take a shot on Youkilis, he really can’t make them any worse off (as far as trying to contend goes). If their 1B is already that bad, Youkilis can’t make them worse, and if he does go on the DL they can just put their current 1B back in there.

It’s arguable whether the Dodgers are “bad enough” at first to warrant the risk. As of now it’s essentially a platoon position and I suspect it would remain so for a time at least with Youkilis on the roster. The advantage for the Dodgers of getting him early I suppose is they’d have a few weeks to evaluate him before the trade deadline. By the end of July they’d have some idea who was expendable.

Am just scared at how much he could produce at Chavez Ravine. Youk IMO, is a product of fenway park and uses that wall. His power is to LF/LCF and he is a fly ball hitter, many of his long drives would die on the warning track in LA.

He might be better than what LA currently has, but not sure he could get back to close to where he was there is the problem.

The White Sox are actually the best fit. If he doesn’t cost much, anything is an improvement over Brent Morel and O-Dog. They could bat Youk ninth and he could do nothing and they would still be better off with him at 3rd than those clowns.

That being said, I suspect Youk improves when he finally gets traded. He seems miserable playing in that environment. I think it’s reasonable to expect him to hit around .240 or .250 with a good walk rate as always, and that’s a vast improvement over O-Dog and Morel.

I agree with that. However, as a 1-2 year rental, I don’t think it’s an issue. Also, he is an especially good option for the White Sox because with how depleted their farm system is, there aren’t many other players with his upside that they can upgrade to this year. They are pretty constrained. Alexei Ramirez has also become a very solid defensive SS so his range could possibly help mitigate some of Youk’s defensive liabilities.

Off Youk topic as can be (sort of) but Maine.. I think Morales, especially after that showing tonight against Atlanta has maybe shown he can more than fill the 5th slot. 4th even, cause he does not play around out there with the K zone like Matsuzaka and was throwing mid 90’s into the 6th inning.

Forget even thinking of trying to add prospects with Youk for Floyd.. I’ll take Morales anyday the way he has looked in these 2 starts.. Simply awesome.

As you well know, I was extremely skeptical of Morales coming into this year, but it’s really hard to argue with what he’s doing at this point. His K/BB numbers took a big jump forward almost from day one with the Sox, and I thought they would regress back to where they had been, but he’s actually been better this year (and phenomenal in his two starts); it makes me wonder if the Sox noticed some mechanical issue before picking him up and had him tweak it once he was on the team, or something.

He always had this potential, he was just never able to control his stuff, but with 17 Ks to 1 BB in 11 IP as a starter, and 37 Ks to 7 non-intentional
BBs in 34.1 IP overall this year (following 11 BBs and 31 Ks in 32.1 IP
with the Sox last year) it looks like he may have figured that out.

It kinda makes me wish they had room in the rotation to keep him there after Beckett comes back; maybe he reverts back in the long-term, but I would like it if he could get as much of a shot at starting as Bard did.

Both of us had him pre ST as a waiver guy, or possible trade and predicted to not make the roster, or at least him or Andrew Miller and yes.. It is shocking, but a nice shock..

The control he has shown (for the most part) has been phenominal, not to mention in his 2 starts the control AND maintaining velocity so deep into games.

i am of the mind to remove Matsuzaka myself..yes.. They will have to reduce the workload on Doubrant soon as his innings pile up, but matsuzaka is really the one whom they cannot afford to wait for him to regain his former self now IMO. Do they allow morales to start and phantom DL Matsuzaka until they allow Doubrant to get another 50 or so IP in and then shut him down?

They’re already going to have a logjam of starters with Cook back up tomorrow, so I don’t know if there is really a good way to make it happen; you would really have to get rid of all of your starting depth to do it.

Right now the starting depth is Lester, Beckett, Buchholz, Doubront, Dice-K, Cook, and Morales. And since neither Dice-K or Cook would be much use out of the ‘pen (plus, as you know, the ‘pen is overfull already) you would really need to trade them to make room for Morales. As you said, they could move Doubront back to the ‘pen, but he’s been their most consistent starter to this point, and I don’t see them shutting him down very soon (I give him ~160 innings this year and he’s only half way there).

I think the only thing to really do is to keep Morales as a reliever/spot starter for now (which still leaves you with the question of what to do with Cook); if Doubront gets to 130-140 innings and they want to move him to the ‘pen to keep his innings down they could move Morales back to the rotation at that point, plus giving him spot starts when guys are hurt or need a day off.

If they could trade Dice-K and Cook, and bring back starters who had options and could be stashed in AAA they could make it work, but they would, in all likelihood, be weakening the quality of their starting depth to do it.

I am pretty much of the mindset to just let Cook walk anyway when they get done maxing out the time with his rehab starts. Don’t think he really would help that much more than the various AAAA people they have at Pawtucket and like you said.. They right now have Lester, Beckett, Bucholz, Doubrant, Matsuzaka and Morales.

That gives them 6 SP if someone misses a turn (or more) and one of the various retreads at Pawtucket could make a start or 2 and do nearly the same if need be.

Don’t think Matsuzaka would be of much use in the pen either, but also think Morales is of more use in the rotation from what we have seen you know? What to do there and that would be the only reason to possibly hang onto Cook.. *if* they could somehow move Matsuzaka.

This topic is getting kind of hard to read now. Wish was another place to continue..

I think the White So make the least sense, since they apparently want him as a 3B, where he will not defend as well as either incumbent. However KW certainly does love his reclaimation projects, and doesn’t even try to get them cheaply..

^that too haha. At least the Dodgers have other options and ways to upgrade and they should definitely explore them before jumping on the Youk bandwagon is all I’m saying. The White Sox have limited resources to trade and may only have this option among other lesser options

If he’s a dog, he’s not a vast improvement over Morel. Over O-Dog perhaps, but Morel is very solid, with potential gold glove tools. Morel also has a track record of hitting in the minors, and projects to (eventually) be a late bloomer with moderate power, similar to Joe Crede. Granted, Morel is not healthy and probably won’t have an opportunity to turn it around this season. Would rather wait on his promise than settle for what’s left of the good ship s.s. youklii.

Maybe you should re-read my post…If the Sox eat a chunk of $$ on Youks contract and send over a prospect or 2…I wouldnt expect to get that kind of return without giving up something… if their dealing with kenny Williams, anything is possible…

Right now, looking more like addition by subtraction. If they eat his salary and the buyout cost then maybe something. Middlebrooks may hit a wall but he’s the long term answer at third right now and Gonzalez should not be in right. Odds are they drop Youk next year anyway, so might as well get something.

The next guy down, who really has a chance to help the team is Garin Cecchini in A Ball. Maybe Bogaerts, or Shaw also at A Ball. Nobody at AA, or AAA is any kind of prospect anymore, up to and including 2010 1st round pick Kolbrin Vitek.

As has been stated.. Last place and only 2-3 games out of a WC spot.. Not to mention in the toughest (by far) division in baseball is a whole lot different than last place in say.. The AL West, NL Central. NL central etc..

Boston is 2 games over .500, not 20 games under. Some of the posters here just lack any common sense whatsoever.

Both Baltimore and the Nats seem to be pulling miracle turn arounds a year or 2 ahead of schedule and just *what* is up with the Mets? How long can that motley crue of who knows whats play that kind of ball??

That entire mets team(so far) deserves the miracle of the season award, even over the Tribe and O’s and that is saying something, considering the miracle season both Baltimore and Cleveland has pulled off. Those 2 teams have young talent.

Youk doesn’t move the needle on attendance…5k people dropped full or partial season ticket packages because they aren’t happy with Kenny Williams Youk doesn’t change that…His price tag isn’t hard for the Sox to adsorb at all, it all depends whether Reinsdorf is in his spend mode or cheap mode…He goes back and fourth

A few million dollars isn’t tough for a team that had the fourth highest payroll in baseball last year to absorb.

I don’t know much about Youk…but if he is a grump about his playing time when he isn’t producing, he is probably not going to be that resurgent veteran ‘spark’ in the clubhouse Kenny is always chasing. So, if he is a grumpy whiner, has decreasing potential due to age, and is injured/not producing….is he really any different than Hudson? Is he better defense at 3B than Hudson–considering Hudson is learning on the job right now?

I always love how baseball fans overreact. Youk has been a pure hitter his entire career. Even in the minors. Is he at his peak? No. But to assume his slump will continue indefinitely is short sighted. A saavy team will recognize this and scoop him up. They will then reap the benefits. Youk is still a pretty good player.

Look….I’m not a Sox fan or a fan of Youks BUT let’s keep it real here. His problems are not just the fact that he has a low bat avg and little power. He isn’t doing a single thing that has made him a great player right now. From August 2011 to now…6 hrs in 250 +PA. He’s not walking much now (career low BB rate @ 8.7%), he’s striking out at a much higher rate (career high of 24.2%), he was never more than an average at best defensive 3b and now he’s got a bad back that “might” hamper his mobility there and maybe even at 1b. Can his body hold up if he has to play 1b/3b on a regular basis? What reason does anyone have to assume his bat will hit for enough power if he was moved to DH?

Just as foolish as it would be to sell too low on Youks it would be even more foolish for ANY team to trade a top prospect in exchange for Youks and expect him to be more than a good veteran bat for an already good offensive team. No team should acquire him expecting him to turn your offense around and to play 90% of the teams remaining games. I won’t go as far as saying he’s nothing better than a platoon player but a team MUST consider that maybe that’s how he’s best suited this year.

Injuries can account for his lack of power and mobility on the field but the “Greek God of walks” isn’t walking anywhere like he use to.

Youk is obviously gonna get traded…no doubt and it is gonna happen soon as Ken Rosenthal reports…if we do we need some pitching…we might not get Jake Peavy but I could see Gavin Floyd or John Danks because the Sox were interested in them this offseason…we would need to throw one more player in there

well…your saying that it is out of the question even though the Red Sox have always been interested in Floyd and Danks…but then again the White Sox rotation can’t afford that especially when Humber is out and Quintana is playing because the are desperate

No way you get danks he is locked up, hurt, and IF he gets traded it’s this off season for prospects. Plus his trade value is at an all time low and he has a full no trade clause for this year. And no way you get Gavin for youlk. Gavins trade value is a tad bit higher plus. I’m sorry but red sox fans need to understand youl has little to know trade value. Cherrington will be lucky to get a A player or two or a project older AA type for
Him.

well obviously….but many teams are interested in him, the Red Sox can throw in another couple of players….Youk still has value but he is gonna be a hit or miss…so obviously they aren’t gonna want Youk straight up

I could actually see a package. Gavin and/or Matt Thornton for Youk, the Red Sox picking up freight on all of the above, AND throwing in some additional players. But don’t know why the Red Sox would do that, unless they’re that desperate to get rid of Youk, and get some value this yr. The White Sox save money, and free up some flexibility for another deadline deal. Kenny is always thinking 2 or 3 deals ahead (for better or worse). Wouldn’t be surprised to see him even trade for Youk, and then flip Youk to his favorite trading partner the Jays.

Danks isn’t going anywhere. Possibly Gavin or Matt Thornton, since they have sizable contracts, and the net savings (if the Red Sox agree to pick up freight on both Youk and the players they get) might allow Kenny to do something else at deadline

I forgot about Lee, but he’s really just another maybe. He might be better than Youkilis if Youkilis stays this bad all year, but if you have any faith that Youkilis will improve at all then he’s a better option than Lee (and his defense will be a lot better than Lee’s regardless). Not to mention Lee is way more expensive than Youkilis.

I realize Lee isn’t on the block (yet) but he certainly could be, and it would be painful if the Dodgers traded for Youkilis only to miss a shot at Lee a few weeks later. I don’t think the Dodgers are too worried about the money, the priority has to be getting the ship righted. I don’t see Youkilis as the force that strengthens the lineup like Lee could.

Lee’s never been as good a hitter as Youkilis was though, and he’s been just as bad recently. He used to hit for more power more home runs (Youkilis actually maintained a higher SLG and ISO), but it was only by a few home runs, and it was 5 years ago.

Am a big Youk fan also. That stadium just isn’t for him Maine. I beg you to watch multiple games there if you have not and how the ball carries.. The field and how it plays.. It’s not for Youk.

I see nothing but doom for Youk at Chavez Ravine, he’s not at an age, the type of hitter that is (presently) struggling I see can comeback for half a season and he would get worse. For someone who plays the game as hard as he does? it would be torture and might even get hurt.

It would have to hurt his offense some, but that move would hurt any player’s offense. I don’t think it would really hurt him any more than most other right handed hitter though because he has kind of a left-center fielder gap kind of swing, so while some of his home runs might turn into doubles, I don’t think they would necessarily turn into outs.

If Headley is really available he would definitely be a better option, especially for a team looking for a 3B. I’m not sure that Headley is really available though (obviously everyone is available at the right price, but he’s got 2 1/2 years of team control left, so I doubt they’ll be looking to move him at this point). I’m not overly familiar with the Dodger’s farm system, but would they even have the prospects it would take to get Headley – from a division rival – if he really is available?

The impending roster move Boston would make, should Boston move him would weaken the team more than likely. Nate Spears certainly isn’t going to be worth anything at all. he cannot hit and isn’t going to contribute. I could see Ciriaco, but he is a SS/2b and would require Aviles to slide over to 3b if Middlebrooks had issues at 3b. Punto isn’t worth anything at the plate and leaves an issue at 3b if any injury at 3b, or more struggles with Middlebrooks with no real prospects several seasons away

Really hope the Braves make a play here. If Boston eats almost all of his salary, and the cost is only a middling prospect like whats being reported, then this is a no brainer. Youk would be a significant upgrade over Juan Fransico, and with Chipper and Freeman not at 100%, he’ll get plenty of at bats.

@FelixFan that is ridiculous! For one the Sox don’t need another outfielder as they’ve got too many already. Second Ichiro has said he doesn’t want to play anywhere else but Seattle. Third the Sox are looking to get pitching in return and Youklis for Felix doesn’t make sense. Fourth , Erik Bedard (need I say more?)

Makes no sense from a whitesox perspective. The sox would not trade a mediocre starter(shows flashes of greatness followed by bad) for a bad bullpen pitcher. The sox need pitching just as much as 3rd base help.

Melencon was bad in 2 games at the beginning of the season, good all of last year and has fixed the issues that were wrong earlier this year at AAA, that was why he was recalled.

Not the definition of a “bad” reliever by any standards. he gave up 11 runs over 2 games. Boston might (and will be) moving BP pieces and maybe even melencon, but only after he, in particular has shown for sure to the league that his early season issues are a thing of the past and he is the melencon of 2011.

Boston has a very deep BP to send pieces to the Chisox if they need them as “filler” in a deal if Youk is moved in Albers, Padilla etc.. They as a whole, are tops in baseball since late April.

I would really like for the Braves to get more involved, Freeman’s finger will linger all year long, Chipper only plays 3-4 games a week on average, that has forced Prado to play LF, 3B, and 1B. Hinske, Francisco, and Diaz have been awful, so yes they need to improve the bench.

A trade like this is what I want, Juan Francisco, Matt Diaz, and Zeke Spruill(AA guy with a #3 starter potential) for Kevin Youkilis, Ryan Sweeney, and 2 million of the 7 million owed to Youkilis.

Dodger should just send someone like Ely (who is currently off the 40 man) and Antonini for Youk and *some* level of salary relief; then look for a LH reliever at the deadline. Dodgers offering anything more than something like this is probably not worth it.

It’s unbelievable how different the MLB, NFL,NHL, and NBA are when it comes to trades….in the NHL you can trade a draft pick for a descent player…same with the NFL…In the MLB you have to give up prospects and all that

One reason for that is probably because high draft picks in the NFL are usually intended to contribute to their drafting team the immediate follow season. Who was the last first rounder to not play for a reason other than his team didn’t end up signing him? In baseball you typically don’t see your first rounder for 3-4 years. Prospects are already a bigger gamble in MLB, so teams are better off trading them once they shown a bit of what they can do professionally as opposed to trading the pick. That said, having the option might be desirable to some teams.

Trading up draft picks on the other hand is something MLB should definitely implement.

You must have came up with that one after he got literally crushed vs the Dbacks a couple of days back. I watched it also and Vargas was beyond awful, just reinforcing the fact he belongs in the NL where he *might* be able to get away with that 85-6mph FB and iffy slider.

Boston would be better off just DFA’ing Youk and letting Seattle do the likewise honors with Vargas.

To quote Strother Martin from the original move True Grit? “Don’t saddle me with your discards”.

I laughed out loud, reading this comment. It’s true, Boston fans have the mentallity that they’re trading away a player who contributed to two titles and had multiple .300+ seasons… it’s just tough to accept that there comes a time to let go. Not to stir this conversation up, but it seemed like the end of the world when Varitek and Wakefield finally hung it up. Yes, they were a big part of the history of the franchise, but it’s time for the kids to shine!

I’d rather the White Sox be going after Chase Headley, although I’m not sure they have the prospects for it. The reason their being tied to Youkilis more is that he can be had for major leaguers since Boston is contending (sort of). If there is some kind of deal that wouldn’t completely destroy the WSox already barren farm system that brings him over, I’d say do it in a heartbeat. But the Youkilis trade will make bigger headlines, and Kenny Williams likes his headlines. It’s the more likely move at this point.

@johnsilver:disqus I’m not a fan of Cook either, but if you don’t hang onto him you really limit your starting pitching depth. With Wilson and Tazawa in the ‘pen now, if Cook left the only starting pitching depth they would have would be guys like Germano and Duckworth (who aren’t on the 40-man roster, which creates another issue).

Obviously they are going to have to do something with either Dice-K or Cook, and as far as depth is concerned it should be putting one of them (probably Cook) in the ‘pen, but his only real value out of the ‘pen would be as a spot starter and long reliever, which would push Morales back to being a one inning guy, so he wouldn’t be stretch out to get spot starts (and Cook would be getting them anyway).

Ideally you could move one of them and get (likely in a different trade) a quality starter who can be optioned to AAA, but short of that I really don’t see how they can maintain enough starting depth and keep getting Morales occasional starts/long relief outings.

The thing of it is ( and I fully understand they have little reliable depth at AAA) that Morales seems to be the better option as a #5 SP between Cook and Matsuzaka.

Winning games with Morales as the better SP (in limited games of course) would seemingly be the way to go. Why use someone, like Cook for instance and tolerate yet another rehabing pitcher at the MLB level when they have one who is showing they can pitch as well as a SP as any of the other SP on the staff through his 1st 2 games? It just doesn’t make any sense.

I do have something to throw out here though if Youk is possibly dealt to Cleveland. Some kind of deal involving our old favorite Masterson and Morales is involved…

It would be a really hard decision to make after only two starts from Morales though because they could get rid of Cook and Matsuzaka only for Morales to come crashing down, and then they would have no one. If Morales had been a good starter in the recent past, or if he had enough starts for them to feel comfortable about him sustaining it, it would be an easier thing to do, but I don’t think they can risk that at this point.

And as far as Masterson, I doubt they would be willing to move him. Now that he has turned it around and is pitching well for them they are relying on him in order to stay in contention.

That new arm slot for Masterson is the key. It worked wonders vs LH hitters. Maybe Farrell should have worked on it while he was with him in Boston.

Then just depth kind of move is best if/when Youk is moved. More iffy AAA arms at best is a guess since his value isn’t high and don’t want to see a Bradley/Barnes included in a deal. You know my opinion on those types of rentals, even one that had a Cecchini, brentz, Jacobs, Lavarnway etc. Ranaudo, even Workman could see them moving, but Ranaudo would be selling low on right now if a rental is acquired along with Youk going in some fancy 3 way deal.

A buy low would be Guthrie, but he probably has no options.. he is in the BP now.. Maybe swap Matsuzaka for him.. get him to waive his N/T. I’d take Guthrie anyday for Matsuzaka. Contract is nearly the same.

Agreed. Back issues don’t just go away and if he needs to be rested every two or three days then his value, down as it is already, decreases even more if he can’t play practically everyday on the field.